It's all about me -- Dec 8, 2008

I seem to be self-absorbed for the last week or so, hence, it is all about me!

Five weeks ago I had the cataracts removed from my left eye; three weeks ago I had the cataracts removed from my right eye. I had been told the operation would be easy , and that was true. I had lenses implanted that correct my astigmatism and far-sightedness. They are made to focus at 20 feet. I now can see quite well to drive, and was surprised how many things one can actually see when driving after dark -- so from that standpoint the operation was a success. I need reading glasses, and at present I am using Walmart reading glasses. I miss my old trifocals, and have trouble with stuff that is 5 or 6 feet away. I expect I will still need glasses, but they will be nowhere nearly as strong or thick as the ones I formerly had.

Last week I had a cochlear implant on the right ear. This operation was a little more taxing than I expected. I was feeling pretty rough for about 5 days. Part of the problem was that the doctor did not want me to use the CPAP machine for several days. (CPAP machine is to overcome sleep apnea.) So I was steadily getting more and more out of sort each day, finally Saturday I capitulated, got a good nights sleep, and felt like my old optimistic self on Sunday. I am still trying to get my sleep awake cycle adjusted, but that will be OK in a day or two. meanwhile, I am completely deaf in the right ear, well almost completely deaf -- curiously I can hear through the bone, the electric tooth brush when it is on the right bottom molar. Well isn't that little chunk of information interesting? I told you, this is all about me!

I have been doing a fair amount of reading, and watching TV. I am now an expert on the People's Court, so I probably can help any of you needing legal advice. I also have been watching with increasing fear as Congress and the Treasury try to stop the financial melt-down. I was impressed for a while that Henry Paulson really knew what needed to be done. It is now apparent that no one knows what needs to be done, and some period of time is needed for all of the unfortunates finish losing money on investments that were as we now know, a bad idea.
It seems very discouraging to me that after all these years, there still is no way to soften normal business cycles.

I am reading a wonderful book, that i would recommend, "Dreams from my Father" by Barack Obama. He is a very good writer, and his account of growing up, and dealing with both the issues of race, and the issue of his father - an overbearing, but brilliant man, apparently -- who Barack Obama admired, but really never knew, is interesting. Watching Obama as president-elect is fascinating. Usually the present-elect takes it easy until of inauguration, and leaves all the messy problems to the incumbent president. That is not what is happening this time -- I am surprised Bush is not a little more resentful, and does not do everything he can to get things going right before he leaves. I think perhaps he is wrapped up in ideology, that the free market will solve all this mess. We are paying the price of having a spoiled rich man as president. I am always surprised how short Bush is. He usually surrounds himself with people shorter than himself. lately he seems just go out and mix with anyone, so it easy to see he is shorter than most men.

Bushnell, FL Nov 22, 2008

Here is another report from Northern Florida. It has gotten quite cold a couple of times, below freezing a couple of nights. I am not sure what that does to the citrus crop. Much of the citrus farming has moved further south of here because of the years with frosts which destroys the crop, and if bad enough kills the trees. However, in our campground there are a number of orange and grapefruit trees, that seem to be doing just fine.

This week I went to Jacksonville and had the cataract removed from my right eye. I now only have reading glasses purchased from Walmart. However, I think am eventually going to need glasses. Already I miss the trifocals, I used to have. I think I still have a little astigmatism in one eye that was not complete;y corrected by new corrective lens put in to replace my old cataract-ridden natural lens.

While walking about the campground, late one afternoon this week, Madeline spotted an owl in the tree-top. It was a fairly large bird. It was calling to another bird out in the woods near the campground. It is a Barred Owl -- called by some, erroneously I believe, a "Bard Owl". When we have been here in the past, in the spring there often were a pair of owls, with a nest. I suspect these are the same owls, or possibly their offspring.



We are enjoying the political news. Those who know us, know we would and did support Obama -- so we are pretty happy with the result. We now are pleased with what, so far, seem to be good cabinet appointees. We are NOT enjoying the stock market gyrations. One wonders just how much worse things can get. Well, if we live long enough, this will be one can can tell our grandchildren about. I barely remember, the tail-end of the Great Depression, but it certainly had an indelible impression on the generation before me. I suspect, we may be in for some of the same in the years to come.

Bushnell, FL Nov 15, 2008

There is little to report. We have made a couple of runs to the Mayo Clinic, and the cataract from one eye has been successfully removed. Next week, the cataract from the other eye will be removed. Right now I am viewing the world through glasses with one lens removed, and reading by covering up one eye with the cardboard bookmark.

On the way back from Jacksonville to our campground we stopped at Marjorie Rawlings home. This is now a Florida State Park. Marjorie Rawlings wrote "The Yearling" and "Cross Creek". I must confess, I have not read either book, but I did see the movie, "Cross Creek".

Marjorie Rawlings moved to Cross Creek Florida, to a small citrus farm, in 1928. She and her husband (they later were divorced) hoped that the income from the farm, would provide financial support sufficient to support their writing careers. I have been told, that indeed, the citrus farm was successful.

The Marjorie Rawlings House sits in an orange grove, and is surrounded by numerous outbuildings, such as a barn, chicken house, tool shed, tenet house, and a large vegetable garden. Much of the original furniture is in the house, and it reminds me of the way our "cottage" on Sunset Lake was furnished. I begin to realize my age when I see these older homes furnished the way I remember homes furnished when I was about in the late 130's and early 1940's.

The house is a rambling house, described as a typical Florida Cracker House. We have had some discussion as to what that means, but I would describe it as a house, surrounded by porches, with lots of window for cross ventilation, an supported off the ground with some type of stone or cement piers. The walls of the house and the ceiling were of fairly narrow tongue and grove boards, whitewashed --- giving the house a fairly open and airy feel.

Madeline probably best described the home and the surrounding grounds as "Old Florida"' The farm was very pleasant, and it is easy to see that it would be a good place for a writer . The way the home is furnished, I felt as I someone was living there, and had just stepped out for an hour or so.

There is little more to report from here. Watching the financial markets crash has been unpleasant and worrisome.

Bushnell, FL Nov 9, 2008

Wow, it has been about a month since I have checked in. Lots has been happening since I last posted, but mostly of a personal nature, as I will relate.

When I last wrote, we were in Gaffney, SC, where we were getting routine maintenance on the Freighliner chassis part of our RV. (This involves, oil change, grease job, and that sort of thing.) From there we drove over to visit our niece, Robin and her son, Colin. They live just south of Charlotte. it was good to see her, and we are happy to report she is doing well. She has a new job, that involves a fair amount of travel which seems to agree with her.

From there we worked our way down to Jacksonville, FL, for some medical attention. The doctor there has been following some lumps on my lungs for over a year. The happy report is that the lumps are getting smaller and are almost certainly benign ---- Good News, Indeed! I have been having some vision problems, and it was decided to have cataracts on my eyes removed. One was operated on about a week ago, and the other one will be done in about a month. We moved from Jacksonville to Bushnell, FL -- about 200 miles, and are commuting for the eye work.

We went to Tampa, and I got evaluated suitability for cochlea implant. I was found to be a suitable candidate, and will have implant out in the first week of December. Our campground here in Bushnell, is about 50 miles from the hospital in Tampa, so we are staying here for a while. After the implant is completed, there is a one month healing period. then they turn the electronics on. Then, I am told, sound reaches your brain as a series of squeals. Voices sort of sound like Donald duck talking. Eventually your brain begins to interrupt these as sound, and speech. I look forward to a fairly long period of learning to hear again, and a period that will test poor Madeline's patience.

Meanwhile we are here in a RV Park owned by our RV club, and we have many fine neighbors, who are people like us, in their late 50'w through late 70's, mostly full time RVers. so we talk about where we have been, where we are going and our wonderful children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. We are playing games -- mostly dominoes and of all things, poker.

There have been a couple of Sandhill Cranes that visit every morning. They walk through the campground, squawking with a rather unpleasant call, picking up bugs. I suspect that as the park fills up with snowbirds, the birds may find there is too much activity for them.

Above, see the male Sandhill Crane, strutting his stuff through the campground.

Although it is in the shade, I thought this profile of the pair of Cranes rather striking.

We are fortunate that my sister and my niece live near here, so i go visit them periodically. All in all, it is quite pleasant here -- good company, nice weather, and getting some medical stuff fixed, that should give us a marked improvement in the quality of our lives.

Picture arrangement 2

I am again trying to learn how to arrange pictures on the blog. So here goes

This is a picture taken some tome ago of a waterfall along a trail west of Schofield Pass going toward Chrystal Canyon. This is north of Crested Butte. We had been advised not to drive down this trail, unless we were expert 4-wheel drivers, which we are not. The advice was good, we would have been in trouble a long ways from a tow truck.

A beautiful waterfall, is it not?

Several days ago we were taking pictures for my profile on Facebook. this is one of them.

Well this seems to be working OK!

Gaffney, SC Oct 10, 2008

We are now in Gaffney, SC. This is the small city where the Freightliner chasis are manufactured used in RV and Firetrucks, etc. The headquarter service center is here and it is the best pace to get routine service done. Since we only change our oil about once a year, we try to come here. Here they also handle recalls; since they only work on RV's, we like to come here. They are excellent on preventtice mintenaince.





I am trying to work onblogging techniques. here are two size photos. If you have a preference, leave a note. I am also trying to experiment on ways to mix the text and the photos.

Well, I am not having much luck with this. Anyway the above is a picture taken north of Schofield Pass, in Colorado, next to a waterfall on the Crystal river. We drove to within a quartermile of here, and then walked on the good advice of a sign sayint the roas was only suitable for expert 4-wheel drivers.

Red Bay Alabama, Oct 4, 2008

I am working on my Fall resolution to work on this blog once a week.

Last Monday we left Lyons Colorado and spent three days driving to Red Bay, Alabama. These were, for us, long driving days --- leaving around 7:30 to 8:00 am and arriving at a campground around 5:00 (or 6:00 counting the time zone change. We would have perhaps an hour rest for fueling or lunch. Anyway roughly 8 hours driving time, fairly equally split between Madeline and me.

We arrived in Red Bay, AL, late Wednesday afternoon. The campground, which is located by a now defunct airport, was full, so we spent a night boon docking "On the Runway". We are here to get an air conditioner worked on and one or two other minor repairs. Although the work schedule here is largely first-come, first-served, there are several "Express Bays" for jobs taking less than three hours. We were happy to hear we qualified for that, so we expect to be out of here the middle of next week.

We have been here several times, so we have pretty much seen the sights around Red Bay. However there is a house in nearby Florence, Alabama that was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. This home was donated to the city of Florence some ten or so years ago. it was in poor repair, with leaking roofs, termites, etc. The City spent considerable effort in restoring the home, and it is now open for guided tours, that last about half an hour. (A picture of the house is at the beginning of this blog.) The inside of the house was interesting. there was a lot of dark wood, and a lot of indirect lighting The kitchen was remarkably small. The owner had Wright design an addition, to which an new kitchen was added. Even the new kitchen was quite small.

It was a thrill to be able to walk through the house and see the various rooms.The furniture in the house, which while interesting, had lots of straight lines and did not look very functional (read comfortable). Much of the original owner's furnishing were still in the house. The furnishing were mostly of Japaneses design, which added to the beauty and simplicity of the home.

Tomorrow, we will probably stay around Red Bay -- walk around a bit , read the NY Times on the computer, watch the talking heads on TV and perhaps watch a football game - or two. The campers here are having a get-together, where everybody brings about a half pound of food -- meat, vegetables or pasta -- to be cooked for three hour to make hobo stew. I think it is the same thing as slumgullion stew.)

Oh yes, I am now a member of Facebook. If some of you readers wish you can contact me there as well, leave a note here.

I am also happy to report I am starting my 76th year this week. I never thought I would declare my youth my saying I don't feel a day over 60! But I do feel pretty good, and don't feel my age. (Knock on wood!)

Lyons, CO September 26, 2008

Well, we have spent a wonderful summer in Colorado, but we have been so busy having fun, that I have neglected this blog.I will try to bring you up-to date with a brief recounting, and then get back to my pledge of a weekly posting!

I think on my last post, I was rejoicing that we were back in the Rockies. Later, in July, we had a family reunion at the YMCA Camp in Estes Park. This was attended by all our children, and many of their families. we are still assembling pictures of the reunion, and when we have them all together, I will gather about 20 or 25 of the best one and post them on the Google site. The reunion lasted 6 days,arriving on a Saturday, and leaving the next Friday. We had two cabins rented with a number of bedrooms, so we had plenty of room for everyone. The YMCA had a number of programs for kids, so there was plenty for the tads to do, such as horseback riding, fishing, building bottle rockets, craft activities, and, of course, swimming. Many of us went hiking at Rockey Mountain National Park and got in pretty good shape. I, personally, finally got up to about 8 miles hiking at 8,000to 11,000 feet, and managed to lose a little weight (which I unfortunately, have gained back).

Evenings were especially a lot of fun, Every evening a different crew of about four people prepared dinner for the rest of us (about 25 people in all). After the meal there were usually one or two card games --- most often Spades.

I thought the Reunion was a great success, and I hope we can have another in two or three years.

After the Reunion, we took our RV and Hap and Jeannine's family to Pioneer days in Cheyenne, WY. We saw a great parade in downtown Cheyenne, and the following day went to the Rodeo. the Rodeo, which is a 5-day affair (We only went one day.), was a lot of fun, and some of the most skilled cowboys in the world were competing there. I was surprised, how rough it was, and several of the cowboys were injured and had to be carries off.

Hap's family flew back to Florida, and Madeline and proceeded down to Creede , CO. In Creede we attended a rally held by our RV Club (called Escapees). The rally was mostly involved with four-wheeling. Four-wheeling is especially good in Southern Colorado because there are many, many abandoned mines. These mines all have roads or at least tracks leading to them . Thus there are many four-wheel drive roads, some of them exceedingly rough, through the forest and up into the alpine areas, and some times even over or along the Continental Divide.

We spent more time in Southern Colorado after the rally. We visited our friend Duane and Arleta, and then went up to the Gunnison and later to Buena Vista area. we did some hiking, but primarily did some geocaching. The geocaching again took us on to four-wheel drive roads, up canyons, over to old mines, to ghost towns and through grazing area of ranches. We seemed to go and see places that we would not normally go to.

We finally returned to Lyons (about 7 miles from Boulder where our daughter lives). Madeline went to Florida to visit Hap and Jeannine for a few weeks, and only returned a few days ago. Monday, we plan to hit the road, and will move on toward Red Bay, AL, where our rig was manufactured.. We have a few things on the rig that we need to have looked at. We are about to start working outs way toward Florida for the winter.

Rocky Mountain National Park, June 27, 2008

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Yesterday, we moved from Lyons up to Estes Park. we are now camped in a commercial campground, just outside Rocky mountain National Park. With the gain in altitude, we are working our way to get used to it so we can hike on a trip of decent length.

Yesterday, we went around Bear Lake, where we saw trout, swimming up a brook to spawn. There was still the remnants of a snow drift by the lake, and we learned that the trails up to some of the higher elevations are still blocked with snow!. I guess that is the usual thing this time of year, here, but it is always a shock to think there is snow interfering with what you want to do, when it is almost July!

After the short walk around Bear Lake, we drove a little ways and took a short hike to Alberta Falls.

The pictures here are of a view of the river from above Alberta Falls. and of Bear Lake, with mountains in the background.

On Sunday we plan to move to a campsite in the park (first come, first served). Since we are so long (40 ft) there are not to many spots that will accompany us. So -- we will have to get there early. No hookups, so we will be boon docking, which is OK.

In Colorado, June 27, 2008

Since our last posting, we have moved west! We left Florida a couple of weeks ago, and started our journey to Colorado. On the way, we stopped at Louisville, KY to visit our daughter, Diana. Diana now, as most of you know, has left her husband and is living in Louisville. She recently purchased a very nice condo, which is about a 30-minute drive from her the school, where she teaches as a school librarian. Although school session for the year is over, we had a chance to visit the library and help with a book-inventory project. I must say I was quite impressed with the library. It is quite large, with a separate classroom, and a media room. Diana teaches four classes a day, as well as supervises the library, which involves purchasing books, and developing programs to promote reading.

From Louisville, we drove on to Lyons, CO, a small town about 10 miles north of Boulder. While crossing Missouri and Kansas, we could see that the creeks and rivers were very full from all the recent rains. Kansas was green from all the rain, and looked entirely different than it usually appears this time of year.

Now we are in Colorado; Iam enjoying it very much. The weather is good -- cool nights and warm days -- although the last several days have been perhaps a little too warm. We are catching up on chores, and plan to go up to Estes Park next week, where we will enjoy even cooler and pleasanter summer weather. Meanwhile we are preparing for a six-day family reunion which will be held in Estes Park in July.

Smokey Mountain National Park, and Back to Florida

Gosh, I now see it has almost six weeks since I have posted a note. We have done so much, that either we have been to busy to post, or there was so much to tell, that It seemed too much to write.

Well, anyway, at our last posting, we were at an Escapee's RV park a little east of Knoxville, TN, and a bout an hour east of Smokey Mountain National Park. shortly after our last posting, we decided to move to the west side of the park, over in North Carolina. We ended up in a pleasant RV park, about five miles outside of Cherokee. We spent about three weeks there, hiking and driving about enjoying the Spring flowers. You can see a new picture of us on the right-hand side of the this blog, taken at Clingman's Dome, the highest peak in the Park, and I think the third highest peak in the Appalachian Mountains.

We really enjoyed the Spring flowers. it has been several years since we have experienced spring in the East, where flowers are abundant in the spring. what made it especially nice was the fact that by traveling higher, we could see flowers just coming out, while at lower altitudes, we could watch as new waves of flowers came into bloom. Unfortunately we did not stay long enough to see the mountain laurel or the rhododendrons come into bloom. that will happen in early June, we are told.

We saw a few Pink Lady's Slippers. Mostly these were seen on top of a high hill about two miles away from the road, on a hike. we very much wanted to see Yellow lady's slippers. Neither of us had ever seen them. We asked various rangers at several visitor's Centers and got directions for all sort of out of the way places, but alas no yellow lady;s Slipper. Then on the last day we revisited a site, where we were told yellow lady's slippers could be found in abundance. We walked in the woods, and could not find them, then i saw some people taking pictures on a bank on the side of the road --- and there they were --- lot of Yellow lady's slippers on a bank, perhaps fifteen feet of the side of the road! Yellow Lady's Slippers are smaller than the pink variety and seem to grow in bunches, with lots of leaves, so that three to ten flowers may be found in a group. The pictures, above, are of the Yellow Lady's Slippers.

We saw lots of flowers and have lots of pictures. Of particular interest was the variety of trillium we saw. We saw Painted Trillium, White Trillium, Catesby's Trillium (a large white trillium), Red Trillium, and Yellow Trillium.

After enjoying Spring in the mountains, we started working our way south. (i have a doctor's appointment at Mayo Clinic on June 2.) We stopped to visit our niece robin for an evening at Fort mill, SC, which is just a suburb of Charlotte, NC. We have spent the last week back at Lake Worth, FL. it is pretty warm here, now -- temperature in the high 80's during the day and in the 60's at night. Madeline has spent most of her time being a grandma, which is a full-time job for her.

Cumberland Gap and Flowers Redux; April 25, 2008

Monday we rode up to Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. It was quite interesting to me, because about 45 years ago, on a weekend off, from taking a course on the use of radioisotopes in research at Oak Ridge, our family drove up and through Cumberland Gap.

Pictures: Left, me, standing in the Gap

Right, overlooking the Gap from the pinnacle.

Things have changed a lot in 45 years! (It doesn’t seem that long to me.) In the first place one can drive within thirty miles or so of Cumberland Gap on a four-lane limited- access highway; whereas we had to take curvy mountain roads, at what might be considered a long time ago. But what is most amazing is the Cumberland Gap itself. When we drove there forty five years ago, a very busy, three-lane highway passed through Cumberland Gap, with no place to stop to view and to reflect on the significance of where we were. Now that highway has been eliminated and a tunnel , accommodating four lanes of traffic was constructed in 1995-96. Above the tunnel, the entire Gap has been converted into a wooded park, with only a hiking trail passing through the Gap. Well, actually there is also a railroad track, but it is well hidden. There is also a road to the pinnacle, overlooking the gap with a view of the surrounding area of three states: Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia.

A word or two about the historical significance of Cumberland Gap. Cumberland Gap has been an important route for the Indians across the Appalachian Mountains. This chain of mountains was a major impediment to westward migration from the colonies in pre-Revolutionary War Times. Daniel Boone was important explorer of the Kentucky area and frequently used the Cumberland Gap to enter the Kentucky frontier. Later he led a group that blazed the Wilderness Road through the Gap and this became a major thoroughfare for settlers into the Ohio River valley. During the Civil War, the Gap changed hands between the Union and Confederate Armies several times. Although this might have been an important route to supply the Union armies in Eastern Tennessee, generally it proved impractical. The route was too long, and in and weather made the roads too muddy. Livestock were driven over the route, but there was so little forage to consume on the way, the poor animals were nearly starved to death when the arrived at their destination, and hardly fit tobe slaughtered for food.

A few notes on flowers. The iris we had seen and is pictured here is a crested dwarf iris. They stand about five inches off the ground, and have what appears to be three blooms in one, but is actually a single complicated bloom.

The mystery yellow flower turns out to be ragwort. Another picture appears here.

New (to us) Flowers in Tennessee April 17, 2008

We took a short walk in the woods, behind our RV, yesterday. There are many Spring flowers out, but we saw some that are either new to us or that we can not identify. The most interesting ones are in the photos above. These purple flowers in some ways look like irises. they are purple, but they have three protrusions, or "beards" rather than one we usually see in iris. They look like some type of orchid to me.

The next interesting flowers resemble what we know as "dog-tooth violets", except the leaves are not spotted. I wonder if they are not just a variant. There are two photos of these, below.

We also found a flower, which is new to us. This is called "foamflower" according to a pamphlet we have. The flower reassembles what we in New England call :Wild Lilly of the Valley". The plant is much taller, perhaps seven to ten inches high and the leaves are different than wild lilly of the valley. A picture of a foamflower is above, on the right.

From Tennessee, April 14, 2008

A White Trillium


Several White Trilliums in a Glen




Bloodroot



Yellow Trilliums

Yellow Violets

Violet Violets

We have had a change of plans. Instead of heading west, we decided to stay in the east for a while longer. We are now up at an Escapee RV park in Heiskell, TN, just a little outside of Knoxville and a little more than an hour’s trip to Smoky Mountain National Park. (We decided to change plans, because of the extra mileage of a trip to Phoenix to the Mayo Clinic for some further medical testing required in June, seemed just too expensive in view of the present–day cost of diesel fuel.)

We made the trip from Florida to Tennessee last week. Our daughter, Diana, was on vacation from her school librarian job, so she was able to come to visit us for a few days. We had great fun -- going to the National Park as well as other local attractions.

It is a beautiful time of year here in Tennessee. The spring flowers are coming out. The redbud trees are at their peak here and the dog woods will are just about to come into full bloom. When Diana was here we went to the Smoky Mountains. It was fun to go up the mountains in the car, and stop to look at the flowers. As we gained altitude, there were fewer and fewer flowers, and when we reached the top at some 6000 feet (just a little higher than Denver, so in western parlance, not so high!), nothing was in bloom, and even the trees had not started to bud.

At the lower elevations we saw:
Redbud trees
Dogwood
Purple, white and yellow violets
Flox
White Trilliums
Yellow trilliums
Bloodroot
Fringed Phacelia
Wood anemones
Wild Geraniums

I had never seen yellow trilliums before. They are shaped somewhat like “Johnny Jump Ups, or Wake Robin that we see on Missouri, but are prettier and occasionally you see a plant with the petals fully extended. The White Trilliums were in abundance, and in places an area over about one hundred feet square would be blanketed with them.

The fringed Phacelia was also new to me. These are white flowers with a six delicate fringed petal, - the plant rising perhaps two to three inches off the forest floor, growing where there is sunshine. They were in abidance on the grassy roadside, but they were also seen in the woods.

On another day we all went to visit Museum of the Appalachia, which is Norris, a small town about ten miles from where we are staying. This is a de4lightful museum with many restored buildings, most transported from what were a small isolated Appalachian Villages. There were, of course, a blacksmith shop, an old school, several old barns and an assortment of log cabins. These villages were relatively isolated, and so were pretty self sufficient. They do seem similar to other reconstructed pioneer villages in Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. There was also a large building with a collection of the various tools and household items used one hundred to two hundred years ago. What seems unique to this area is the importance of music. There were a number of exhibits devoted to music, and an obvious pride that many of the pioneers of country music came from the Appalachian region. In that line, there were two musicians performing – one playing the guitar, the other a fiddle.

Well, there seem lots to do here. We have done just a little exploring of the area – visiting one state park and searching out a place that served authentic Tennessee barbeque.

From Northern Florida March 17, 2008

Since my last posting we have moved from the Lake Worth area in Southern Florida to Northern Florida. We have not had many adventures – doing more mundane things such as getting our yearly physical at the Mayo Clinic, with the usual attendant collection of body fluids, poking and scanning, and waiting for the next appointment. (The Mayo Clinic is a little unusual in that they try to get you your full range of exams – actual physical exam, blood collection, X-ray and CAT scan if needed; eye exam and heavens know what else, within a few days.) Anyway, the final reading seems to be that as we get older, parts wear out, and more pills are needed to compensate. Still, all in all, we seem to be pretty healthy – feeling good, with just a few things that need to be periodically monitored.
Before going to Jacksonville to the Mayo Clinic, we stopped off at Lazy Days RV Park near Tampa, and refreshed our driving skills with a driving lesson. We had taken one there several years ago, but seem to be a little hazy on how to best set the mirrors and how most easily to back into parking spots. We had a nice session. The 40 foot coach we now have seems to handle differently from the 37 foot coach we had before. I believe the wheel base is longer. At any rate, things we had learned to do instinctively on the shorter coach do not work so well on our present coach.
We are now at an RV park near Bushnell, FL. This park is owned and operated by Escapees, our RV club. This makes the daily fee less, and means we are surrounded by friendly, full time Rivers like us. We are also only about 30 miles from my sister, so we are getting a chance to get lots of visiting in.
While here, we had a chance to visit my cousin, who I have not seen for nearly 60 years. It was quite interesting because he has the same deafness syndrome that I have. He recently got a cochlear implant, and is doing quite well with it.
Soon it will be time to start on our journey west. The price of diesel fuel here is about $4.00/gallon; if we get 8 miles/gallon that is 50cents a mile. Well, you can be sure we will start driving a little more slowly, to increase our miles per gallon. The cost of fuel is manageable, but for sure, the basic costs of our life style has sky rocketed this last year – prices for fuel, campground fees, and food have greatly increased in a period of less than a year.

When we leave Florida, we plan to head for Texas. I want to visit Big Bend Park, We have always wanted to do some four wheeling there, and we now have a vehicle that can do it. The trick will be to get there before it gets too hot. Probably it will be nice in April. From there we will probably head to Arizona. We have to be in Phoenix for a day or two around the first of June. The other firm plans are a trip to Gillett, WY around the last of June to attend an Escapee RV Club get together, and then to Colorado in July for a family reunion.No big adventure yet, but this will give you an idea about what we are doing.Since my last posting we have moved from the Lake Worth area in Southern Florida to Northern Florida. We have not had many adventures – doing more mundane things such as getting our yearly physical at the Mayo Clinic, with the usual attendant collection of body fluids, poking and scanning, and waiting for the next appointment. (The Mayo Clinic is a little unusual in that they try to get you your full range of exams – actual physical exam, blood collection, X-ray and CAT scan if needed; eye exam and heavens know what else, within a few days.) Anyway, the final reading seems to be that as we get older, parts wear out, and more pills are needed to compensate. Still, all in all, we seem to be pretty healthy – feeling good, with just a few things that need to be periodically monitored.
Before going to Jacksonville to the Mayo Clinic, we stopped off at Lazy Days RV Park near Tampa, and refreshed our driving skills with a driving lesson. We had taken one there several years ago, but seem to be a little hazy on how to best set the mirrors and how most easily to back into parking spots. We had a nice session. The 40 foot coach we now have seems to handle differently from the 37 foot coach we had before. I believe the wheel base is longer. At any rate, things we had learned to do instinctively on the shorter coach do not work so well on our present coach.

Entertainig Myself in South Florida 2/21/2008

We are still in South Florida, but will be moving north on Saturday. There is not a lot going on; Madeline is trying to spend all possible time with her son, and his family. Tonight she is making a big dinner --- leg of lamb with all the trimmings.
Watching TV has been getting interesting recently. With the writer’s strike on so long, most of the original programming ceased, to be replace with “reality TV” -- which was generally horrendous. However, I am a pro football fan; so much of January was devoted to my brand of reality TV, i.e. unrehearsed pro football games: with the wild card games, followed by semifinal games, etc to the Super bowl.
But foot ball season is over, but I have found something even better ---- the presidential primaries. This year the primaries are especially interesting with a rich blend of characters: an African American, a female, who hopes to become a member of a dynasty (after Hillary, why not Bill again – and then eventually Chelsea?), an aging cranky veteran (bring back the movie “Cranky Old Men”), a Mormon (Is a Mormon, a Christian, and what’s this about Lucifer?), an affable born-again Christian, who plays folk music, and does not believe in evolution , and a yuppie, handsome lawyer, born in a mill town and with some very serious and distracting health issues in his family. Wow! Some of the candidates feel entitled to the nomination – some will change their story to fit any particular audience and we have some very impressive speakers and others who are rather shrill and strident. Wow, if this were in a novel, we would think the characters were over drawn, and their actions and dialog unlikely.
Well, as far as the campaign goes, we are already through the wild card games, and going into the semifinals. And there are so many answered questions. When will they go negative? What new trick will be pulled, just before they vote in Texas and Ohio –What attack will be revealed just in time to go before the electorate, but too late to be answered by the one attacked? After delegates are pledged, will some be induced to change their minds? Will secret deals be made to change their minds?
So this has been my source of entertainment, since the end of football season.

Winter in Florida

It is hard for me to believe that I have not written since last October. I will try to give a brief up-to-date on our activities, and then resume a weekly or at least bi-weekly update.

After the Baloon Festival, we went on to Red Bay, Alabama for our yearly visit to give our RV it's "physical". There was nothing major to be done, but lots of little nagging things to be worked out, such as clouded windows, a somewhat stickey slide-out, and, of course, repairing the damage from swerving to far to one side when crossing a very narrow bridge on our trip on the Alaska Highway.

I went to the Mayo Clinic to see if I was a candidate for a coclear implant. Although my hearing has gotten significantly worse, it is still not quite (but almost) bad enough. We anticipate that I will have a cochlear implant next fall.
From the Clinic in Jacksonville, we went on to Northen Florida, where I visited my sister and neice, and then on to our "winter quarters" at John Prince County Park in Lake Worth, Florida. This is a very pleasant park, and quite a large one. A portion of the park is allocated for RVs. but there is a large section with a golf course, playing fields, several playgrounds, and walking trails. The park is arranged around a rather large lake, and is close enough to the coast to enjoy the cool ocean breezes and weather. We are fortunate in that the maximum stay is 100 days,, allowing one to stay most of the winter. This is especially nice for us, since our son's family lives three or four miles away.

Time seems to be passing quickly this winter. I went to virginia to spend Christmas with my son, and to Inverness, FL to visit my sister and neice. It has been a somewhat grim winter -- two very sad deaths in the family.

We will be leaving here in a couple of weeks. Our plans are a little vague. We will visit my sister again, and return to Mayo Clinic for our annual physicals. Then we will probably head toward Texas. we are thinking about going to Big Bend National park in April.